Welcome

While awareness of lexical specificities in different geographical varieties of French is widespread (see Dictionnaire des francophones), a similar diatopic variation can be found in grammar, yet it has not been studied enough so far. Through this project, we intend to embark on a study of verbal reference, a central pillar of grammar, with a focus on the expression of the future. This specific domain is particularly interesting as recent studies (Blondeau & Labeau 2016, Tremblay et al. 2020 a.o.) show regional differences in the expression of future in European and North American varieties of French, which may also apply to under-documented varieties of the Global South. Our international network investigates the expressions of reference to the future, based on authentic language collected in corpora, with the ultimate goal to inform the linguistic description of future reference in French(es), as well as the production of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) teaching materials favouring the practice of future forms. While we initially focus on French, we hope to extend our network to other languages. If you are interested in joining us, be in touch.